Entries requested for Royal Easter Show Art Awards | Creative New Zealand

Entries requested for Royal Easter Show Art Awards

Calling all artists! You have until 26 February to get your entries in for the Royal Easter Show Art Awards.

Open to artists of all ages, amateur and professional, the Royal Easter Show Art Awards is New Zealand's largest open art competition.

With a total prize pool of over $40,000 and a wide range of categories open to artists of all levels of experience and expertise, the competition attracts around 2,000 entries.

There are painting and photography sections, along with printmaking, ceramics and pottery, glass and woodcraft. While recent additions include painting and ceramic sections for youth 10-18 years and wearable glass.

This year's competition theme is 'Reflections of New Zealand', encompassing all things that make our country so unique.

All entries will be on display in the Art Pavilion for the duration of the Royal Easter Show, on from 1-5 April at the ASB Showgrounds, with most also up for sale at reasonable prices.

Other features of the Art Pavilion include working artist displays, face painting by award winning Carmel McCormick and hands on art activities for the kids.

Royal Easter Show Coordinator Gaylene Ashton says organisers have been impressed with the increase in quality of art presented in the past few years.

"There is some significant prize money up for grabs and a wide range of categories for artists of all levels of experience.

"With the largest viewing audience of any art show in the country, the show also provides artists with an excellent opportunity to display and sell their work, with literally hundreds of artworks sold each year."

A judge at last year's Show, Dr Angela Ashford attributes the increase in the quality to the corresponding increase in prize money.

"Economics underpinned the great art of the Renaissance, encouraging talent from many quarters. The raising in quality of art presented in this Show reflects just this. Economics is not the most important in relation to artistic matters but it is the foundation; it serves to elicit more important things."

Winner of last year's Most Successful Artist in Show Award Bernadette Parsons, says she was very happy to win the award after receiving several others in recent years. "It's a prestigious event, a great show in which to win an award and a great place to show your work."